Circulation Journal Official Journal of the Japanese Circulation Society http://www. j-circ.or.jp cute aortic dissection (AAD) is frequently accompanied by acute respiratory failure. This respiratory failure has been hypothesized by some investigators to be due to activation of systemic inflammatory reactions in AAD, 1-3 given that acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and its less severe form, acute lung injury (ALI), can have etiology that is systemic, rather than pulmonary, such as in disseminated intravascular coagulation. The systemic inflammatory reaction in AAD is provoked by acute aortic injury and is reflected in an increment in serum C-reactive protein (CRP), 1-4 white blood cell (WBC) count 2 and proinflammatory cytokine levels. 1 We hypothesized that some measure of the extent of aortic dissection, such as its volume, might correlate with the severity of the inflammatory response, and in turn, with respiratory function. To our knowledge, these relationships have never been studied, with the exception of one study in which inflammatory markers were shown to be higher in DeBakey type IIIb AAD than in type IIIa AAD. 2 The specific aims of our study were to identify predictors of oxygenation impairment and to assess the relationship between the incidence of respiratory failure and the extent of aortic dissection. Because proximal type AAD (DeBakey type I or II 5 ) often requires surgical intervention, which could also lead to pulmonary complications, we chose to limit our study to patients with distal type AAD (DeBakey type III 5 ). Background: Acute aortic dissection (AAD) often accompanies acute respiratory failure. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between the incidence of oxygenation impairment and the extent of distal type AAD. Methods Study Population

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The bipolar repetitive and continuous fractionated CFAEs represented different activation patterns. The former was associated with an S wave predominant unipolar morphology which may represent an important focus for maintaining AF.

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The EATV index is associated with the prevalence of PAF and PeAF, and its cutoff values are predictive for PAF and PeAF development independently of other AF risk factors.